Project R-13603

Long stay abroad: insights in fundamental pain mechanisms and the potential of personalized mechanistic pain medicine in relation to high intensity training. (Research)

Prof. dr. Kristian Kjaer Petersen and colleagues at the Center for Neuroplasticity and Pain (CNAP, Aalborg University, Denmark) have developed an innovative device (i.e. computerized cuff algometry) to evaluate local and central pain mechanisms and produce quantifiable data for use in scientific research in a reliable and valid manner in pain-free and chronic pain populations. These assessments are used to develop pain sensory profiles, which prof. Petersen has utilized to study the impact of factors e.g. physical activity, sleep, or medication on chronic pain mechanisms. Finally, prof. Petersen has conducted a number of studies to tailor treatment to specific patient groups based on these sensory pain profiles and found that pain sensitive patients are less likely to respond to standard pain treatments such as surgery and pharmacotherapy. The future goal for prof. Petersen is to modulate pain sensory profiles in patients with chronic pain using tailored interventions. One of these interventions will be high intensity training (HIT). I, dr. Jonas Verbrugghe, have evaluated HIT as a therapeutic modality for persons with CLBP. Herein, we were the first to prove that HIT is feasible and effective in (amongst other advantages) reducing pain intensity in comparison to moderate intensity training as used in regular care. However, at present, there are still issues that prevent HIT from broad scale implementation in clinical rehabilitation for CLBP. One of the most important issues is a lack of understanding of its underlying working mechanisms. Knowledge of these mechanisms is key to understand how HIT can be further optimized for individual patients. Recent literature increasingly emphasizes the importance of considering moderating effects of alterations in pain processing in the effectiveness of interventions such as exercise in chronic musculoskeletal disorders. Alterations in pain processing have been found to have an important effect on the perceived disability level and pain during the course of CLBP, and might also regulate overall success of therapeutic modalities such as HIT. A stay at Aalborg University under the supervision of prof. Petersen will provide me, as a clinical rehabilitation researcher, with the opportunity to set up a complementary collaboration with clinical pain researchers, thereby weaving our distinct individual research interests together. The stay will focus on a state-of-art introduction to the assessment of pain mechanisms, interactions with multiple different pain groups at the site, and collection of data for a scientific publication.

06 September 2021 - 05 November 2021